Rob E. Boley discusses his five things learned
writing
The Scary Tales Series
I love writing lil’ tidbits like this because it forces me
to do something that surely does not come naturally to me: thinking. See, I’m much more of a do-er than a think-er. I’m the
guy in meetings who’s tapping his feet, doodling, checking his email, or
slamming his head again and again into the table. Why? Because I don’t want to
talk about it; I want to do it. I’d rather sing it than bring it. I’d rather bite
than bark. I’d rather walk than talk. I’d rather write than outline.
Which brings me to my first point . . .
1) Solid stories fall
together, not apart.
On the scale of pantser-to-plotter, I’m almost entirely a
pantser, which is to say that I have a general idea where my story will end up,
but I have only the vaguest of notions how my characters will get there. There
are pros and cons to this approach, but the biggest positive is that my
characters continue to surprise me.
I can tell you for sure that the vast majority of the
coolest swerves and most riveting developments in The Scary Tales were unplanned. These little moments were
spontaneous outgrowths of the characters and their situations, and I had as
much fun discovering them as my readers will (hopefully) have reading them.
But these moments don’t always happen. I’ve had many a story
die on the vine, and it’s usually because something was missing—either the
characters didn’t have a strong enough arc, the tension was too wobbly, or the
destination ultimately wasn’t all that interesting. I’m a firm believer that if
a story has a solid foundation of characters and conflict, it will fall
together, rather than apart.
Fortunately, with The
Scary Tales, everything has fallen together wonderfully, and that’s at
least partly because of my next point . . .
2) Fairy tales are
rich soil for fiction, especially horror.
My Scary Tales series started as a simple Snow White zombie
short story, but that story quickly blossomed into a novella, a novel, a trilogy,
and ultimately a full-on series. At last part of that growth is because of the
rich metaphors and iconic characters associated with the Snow White fairy tale—as well as fairy tales in general.
I’ve read a ton of fairy tales—especially by the Brothers
Grimm—since I started working on the series, and these stories are full of
compelling characters, horrific acts, tense situations, and depraved
twists. Some of the most fascinating of
the original Grimms fairy tales aren’t widely known, such as The Singing Bone or Thousandfurs. So if you’re looking for some dark inspiration, I’d
recommend exploring some of the lesser-known of these tales.
They will make you laugh out loud with their absurdity or
cringe with their grotesqueness—or possibly both, which hints at my next point
. . .
3) Everyone brings
their own story to your story.
I’ve had some people read That Risen Snow and tell me about how they simply couldn’t put it
down because they were so anxious to see what happened next. Others have told
me that they thought it was laugh-out-loud hilarious. Still others have told me
it was scary as hell. These are all valid interpretations of the material, mind
you.
Likewise, I’ve had all manner of response to the characters.
Some readers have absolutely hated Merry, one of the seven dwarfs who is
plagued by depression and who makes some questionable decisions throughout the
novel. Others seemed to sympathize with the little guy and considered him their
favorite character. I’m always thrilled when my writing elicits any strong
emotion from readers, but I wasn’t expecting their responses to vary so widely.
Edmund Wilson summed up this phenomenon with this great quote: "No two
persons ever read the same book."
Of course, if you want to provoke any sort of response from your
readers, you have to keep them engaged. That happens with tension, which for me
is an outgrowth of my next point . . .
4) Imagining terrible
things happening to your characters beats the hells out of worrying about
terrible things happening to you.
At some point while writing this series, I came to a
realization about how writing makes me a happier, healthier person. See, when I
was a little kid, I worried about everything. I worried about the penny I
swallowed poisoning me. I worried about getting in big trouble for the basement
window I broke. I worried about going to the doctor or playing sports or
talking to girls.
As I got older, I outgrew a lot of my anxiety but it still
remained as my default “negative” emotion. Some people get angry. Some people
feel guilty. I worry. After my daughter was born, I was surprised both by how
much I loved her—but also by how much I fretted over her. Maybe it’s no
coincidence that I started writing fiction after I became a dad. I’ve learned
that the writing acts as an outlet for that anxious fidgeting of the mind. Oh,
I still spend a good chunk of every day conjuring up awful things that might
happen, but these are things that will happen to my characters, not to myself
or my loved ones. That benefits me as a person, because I’m not a nervous
wreck, and it benefits my readers because it keeps the tension flowing in my
stories.
A tense reader keeps turning the pages until they run out of
pages, which brings me to my final point . . .
5) Some people really
fumping hate cliffhangers.
If I could change any one thing about That Risen Snow, the first book of The Scary Tales series, it would be the abruptness of the ending. I
won’t give any spoilers here, except to say that the story ends with a pretty
major cliffhanger.
By and large, the book has great reviews on Amazon and
Goodreads, but the few negative reviews mostly concern the cliffhanger ending.
Some people like cliffhangers. Others tolerate them if they care enough for the
characters. A very vocal minority hates the shit out of cliffhangers and would
probably eat your firstborn child if you have the audacity to write a
cliffhanger. Seriously.
While I think the first book ends more or less at the best
spot in the overarching story, I wish I’d finessed the final scene a little
more. The subsequent books all end with some degree of tension, but the endings
are more poignant and subtle. Rest assured, Book 9 will not end with a
cliffhanger. All will be resolved. And almost no one will live happily ever
after . . .
Author Bio:
Rob E. Boley grew up in Enon, Ohio, a little town with a big
Indian mound. He later earned a B.A. and M.A. in English from Wright State
University in Dayton, Ohio.
He lives with his daughter in Dayton, where he works for his
alma mater. Each morning and most nights, he enjoys making blank pages darker.
You can get to know him better by visiting his website at www.robboley.com.
Author Links:
Website: http://www.robboley.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/robboley
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RobBoleyAuthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4097555.Rob_E_Boley
Twitter: http://twitter.com/robboley
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RobBoleyAuthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4097555.Rob_E_Boley
Book
Links:
That Risen Snow: A
Scary Tale of Snow White & Zombies
Available in paperback and ebook.
Ebook currently on sale for free!
· BN.com
· Kobo
· iTunes
That Wicked Apple: A
Scary Tale of Snow White & Even More Zombies
Available in paperback and ebook.
· BN.com
· Kobo
· iTunes
A Scary Tales Box Set (Books 1-4)
There’s no better time to get caught up on The Scary Tales!
This special box set contains the first four books of The Scary Tales series.
That’s four complete novels for only $7.99!
· BN.com
· Kobo
· iTunes
